Lady Catherine's Visit
by WritingImagination
Summary: "But at length, by Elizabeth's persuasion, he was prevailed on to overlook the offence, and seek a reconciliation; and, after a little farther resistance on the part of his aunt, her resentment gave way, [...] and she condescended to wait on them at Pemberley, in spite of that pollution [...]" (Ch. LXI) Lady Catherine's visit at Pemberley after Elizabeth and Darcy's wedding.
1. The Letter

****Disclaimer:** **Jane Austen's books do not have copyright, they belong to the public domain. I do not own "Pride and Prejudice". The image used is free to use (including for commercial use) and comes from hschmider on Pixabay.

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 _"Lady Catherine was extremely indignant on the marriage of her nephew; and as she gave way to all the genuine frankness of her character, in her reply to the letter which announced its arrangement, she sent him language so very abusive, especially of Elizabeth, that for some time all intercourse was at an end. But at length, by Elizabeth's persuasion, he was prevailed on to overlook the offence, and seek a reconciliation; and, after a little farther resistance on the part of his aunt, her resentment gave way, either to her affection for him, or her curiosity to see how his wife conducted herself; and she condescended to wait on them at Pemberley, in spite of that pollution which its woods had received, not merely from the presence of such a mistress, but the visits of her uncle and aunt from the city." (Ch. LXI)_

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 **The letter**

"Fitzwilliam, I think it is time to consider re-acquainting yourself with your aunt."

"Elizabeth!" exclaimed Darcy, "She has said so many awful things about you... she used such abusive language..." He shuddered at the thought.

"I know," replied Elizabeth, "But she is a proud woman used to having her own way, so it is no surprise that your marrying me instead of her daughter should have angered her so much. Everyone has flaws and yet if we gave up our connections to flawed relatives or friends, we'd have no connections at all."

"But we don't need her acquaintance. We're doing perfectly well without it."

"Yes, nevertheless I feel guilty about being the cause for the drift between you and your aunt."

"You oughtn't. The guilt is all on her part. And to be honest, I was never very fond of her."

"But she's your aunt. Don't you have some fond memories of her? Don't you want to be on speaking terms with her, even if not on intimate terms?"

Darcy shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. He hesitated, "Perhaps, if it would remove your feeling of guilt..."

Elizabeth smiled brightly and took her husband's face in her hands to pepper his lips with quick kisses, "Thank you," she breathed in between the kisses.

Darcy laughed, "If I had known it would elicit such joy and passion, I would have offered to do it a long time ago."

Elizabeth laughed along with him, "Who would have thought Lady Catherine could be such a consistent cause of joy and passion? Although, I must say it is not the first time. She brought us together by her interference."

"Her very rude interference."

"Indeed, her very rude interference. And therefore, we may hope that her acquaintance will bring further rude interferences that will only bring us closer together."

Elizabeth grinned cheekily at her husband who grinned back boyishly.

"You know," ventured Darcy, speaking slowly and thoughtfully, with a cheeky twinkle in his eyes, "I'm starting to wonder whether you just want Lady Catherine's acquaintance once more in order to be able to laugh about her."

Elizabeth punched him playfully on the arm, "Why, Sir! How dare you! Although I will admit I delight in anything ridiculous, and Lady Catherine is an unending supply of ridicule. I say this with all due respect to your aunt."

"Of course," replied Darcy who pretended to be offended and Elizabeth believed his mock stern expression for a moment before she realised he was teasing her and she laughed out loud.

 **The reply**

"Unbelievable," mumbled Darcy as he read the letter.

"What is it, William?" asked Elizabeth.

Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Darcy and Miss Darcy were having breakfast at Pemberley. The breakfast parlour overlooked the lake and this morning the view was particularly beautiful. Georgiana tore her eyes away from the view and looked with curiosity at her brother.

Darcy sighed, "Lady Catherine has replied."

"Ah," said Elizabeth, "And I take it the reply is rude and not at all conciliatory?"

Darcy sighed, "You know her too well. The reply is certainly rude. However, she does seem to have calmed down a bit since the last one. It is incredible that she should act as if we must be begging for her forgiveness and craving her acquaintance."

Elizabeth smiled, "A few more letters and she shall give in to curiosity and deign to visit us at Pemberley, despite the pollution its woods have received."

Georgiana gasped, "Lady Catherine said that?"

"Oh yes she did," replied Darcy in a grim tone.

Georgiana's face was marred with shock, "How did she dare?"

"Perhaps it's more due to foolishness than courage," said Darcy, "For she knows how witty and aggressive Elizabeth's repartee is and yet she persists in underestimating her."

"You flatter me, my handsome husband," Elizabeth laughed heartily.

Darcy grinned and when Georgiana wasn't looking, he winked at his wife, who stifled her laughter in her mug. Mr. Darcy had become much more playful and a lot less stern since his marriage, although in public he tended to behave as reservedly as he always had.

"What will you reply?" inquired Georgiana.

"I'm not sure – what do you recommend?"

"Her treatment of Elizabeth is appalling. Perhaps not replying is the most polite way out of this situation," mused Georgiana.

"You are a very thoughtful sister," complimented Elizabeth, "But I am strong and can withstand Lady Catherine's fury, contempt, and whatever else she may throw at me. Why not keep trying to mollify her?"

"I could very well use some assistance for this. I'm not sure that I'm capable of writing another such letter without losing all dignity."

"We'll help," replied Georgiana, "But the letter must be written by your hand, for she doesn't respect Elizabeth enough for correspondence and I prefer to avoid re-kindling my correspondence with Lady Catherine."

"All right," conceded Darcy, "I suppose I am the official intermediary to Lady Catherine. What should we write her?"

" _'My dearest, most beloved aunt,'_ " dictated Elizabeth.

Georgiana gasped with shock before it sunk in that Elizabeth wasn't serious. Georgiana loved Elizabeth dearly but sometimes, despite her considerable intelligence, she lagged in understanding Elizabeth's humour. She was a fast learner though, and following Elizabeth's example, being increasingly daring, she ventured to continue the joke, " _'It is with the utmost desolation that I find out you still, rightly of course, resent my marriage. I must beg for your forgiveness and implore you to grace us with your presence. Pemberley is miserable without Your Ladyship.'_ "

Darcy and Elizabeth laughed, with Darcy being pleasantly surprised at his sister's increasing nerve and open humour.

 **Condescension and mockery**

Despite her claims to indifference and playful manner, Elizabeth was wringing her hands with slightly anxious anticipation. Her husband put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her and she leaned in gratefully. Georgiana was standing closest to the window and had the best view of the approaching carriage.

"She took her grandest carriage. She's stepping out... it looks like she didn't bring Anne with her after all."

Lady Catherine had written a thinly veiled reproach in her last letter, implying that Anne appreciated Mr. Darcy very much but that she was most likely too heartbroken by the break-off of their engagement to see him at this time. Georgiana and Fitzwilliam, knowing Anne quite well, were in no doubt that Lady Catherine's accusations were completely false, since Anne had never shown particular affection for her cousin and did not seem to care about her supposed engagement to Mr. Darcy either way.

"She's bellowing orders at the footman... and now she's talking to Mrs. Reynolds who came outside to greet her..." Georgiana narrated.

Elizabeth sighed deeply. "I can do this," she whispered.

Fitzwilliam turned to her with a half-amused, half-anxious expression, "Of course you can, dearest. You stood up to her very valiantly when you proclaimed you would not swear to refuse me."

Elizabeth laughed at the recollection, "My greatest declaration of love," she said.

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(To be continued. Ideas, suggestions & reviews are welcome.)


	2. The Arrival

**Chapter 2: The arrival**

Lady Catherine de Bourgh looked very imposing, draped in luxurious gear, standing in the entrance hall among piles of luggage and with her staff cowering behind her.

She gave a stiff nod in the direction of the Darcys, "Mr. Darcy, Miss Darcy, Miss Ben- pardon me, a lapse."

Mr. Darcy breathed in deeply to calm himself. Barely three seconds in their house, and she had already thrown a jibe at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's anxiety vanished amongst her amusement. That Lady Catherine would pretend to forget the one thing that had vexed her so greatly was a great cause of hilarity to her. She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling and greeted back, "Lady Catherine, a pleasure I'm sure."

Lady Catherine superbly turned away and bellowed at one of her staff, "Well, what are you waiting for? Bring my luggage to my room, or have you forgotten where it is, you empty-headed –"

"Erm," interrupted Mr. Darcy with a slightly worried expression, "I'm afraid, Aunt, that this year we have prepared another guest suite for you."

Lady Catherine turned very slowly towards her nephew, "What have you done to my room?"

"The guest room you are familiar with," corrected Darcy, "Is currently being redecorated."

"But we have prepared another, very comfortable, suite for you," hastened to say Georgiana, but Lady Catherine ignored her niece. She was glaring at Mr. Darcy and occasionally turning her eyes towards Elizabeth. It was clear she thought Mrs. Darcy had somehow tricked Mr. Darcy into giving her a less comfortable room.

"There was no need to redecorate my room. It was a grand room."

"It was indeed very imposing and elegant, but we thought it would not be suitable for a small child," explained Elizabeth.

"What?" barked Lady Catherine. Her face was turning purple with anger, "Are you with child?"

"Not yet," replied Elizabeth, "But we'd like to form a family."

Lady Catherine snorted inelegantly, and it was obvious she had a disparaging comment to make but she held herself back in front of her nephew.

Georgiana spoke, albeit a little quietly, to try to ease the tension. "Aunt Catherine, would you like to see the new piano?"

And thus, Georgiana gently steered Lady Catherine away, as she was talking loudly about her appreciation of music.

Mr. Darcy and Mrs. Darcy sighed at the same time, then turned to face each other.

"Well, it could have been worse," said Elizabeth.

"Are you sure?" William asked dubiously, "She's treating you abominably ill."

 **In the music room**

"My dear niece," said Lady Catherine, while Georgiana was busy arranging the music sheets, "I must say your brother made a very unfortunate decision. Surely you must have noticed, living with her, that she is not fit to be Mistress of Pemberley, nor to be your brother's wife. And your brother is to blame for the fact that you now have this sister-in-law."

"I like Elizabeth very much," replied Georgiana.

"Georgiana, dearest, you're very young and you need a dignified, respectable older sister to help you enter higher society gracefully and to serve as a tutor. You need someone whose manners you can emulate, someone who will help you make connections among the worthy of society."

"I need someone I can trust and confide in, and someone whose company I enjoy," disagreed Georgiana politely.

Lady Catherine ignored her niece's reply and continued, "Miss Bennet is too young, too uninformed, and too opinionated for someone so young and uninformed. She's of inferior birth, truly from a different world, she moves in different circles in society. She doesn't have the same priorities. You heard her earlier, she can't wait to beat her mother's record at procreation. Is the heir of Pemberley to be raised by such a mother?"

"If I remember correctly, you didn't participate much in raising Anne," Georgiana bit back coldly, "I would have said Anne didn't have much of a mother or a father, just a governess."

This stopped Lady Catherine in her rant.

"I see her rudeness and bad manners have already contaminated you. Georgiana, I am very disappointed in how you are turning out. Very soon, I won't even be surprised to see you run off with a worthless militia man like Miss Bennet's sister did - _Mrs. Wickham_ ". Lady Catherine spat the name disdainfully.

Georgiana had grown very pale and Lady Catherine was pleased thinking that her reason had finally got through to Georgiana. She didn't know about Georgiana's planned elopement with Wickham.

Georgiana collected herself more rapidly than she had been able to in the past.

"This is the type of mistake that some young people make, of any social class. And, actually, I'd even say that age isn't so much of a factor. Plenty of older people also demonstrate the ability to make bad decisions, including alienating one's family out of mistaken pride and vanity."

And with these words, she left the room.


	3. Dinner

Dinner

Dinner was a formal and awkward business. Georgiana, who had become more talkative as her confidence grew, was uncommonly silent. Elizabeth was quite silent herself, and the only remarks she allowed herself to voice were very neutral and unlikely to attract any particular attention or incite any strong feelings. Every once in a while she glanced at her husband and her sister-in-law, trying to gauge their feelings. She didn't want to disappoint them by antagonising Lady Catherine, even though Fitzwilliam and Georgiana had repeatedly assured her that she didn't have to tolerate Lady Catherine's insolence just for their sakes. Georgiana had even said that she dearly loved a good laugh and that Elizabeth shouldn't hold back on teasing her aunt, a statement with made Darcy's eyes open wide with surprise at his sister's increasing cheekiness and spirit.

Lady Catherine talked less than usual too, and yet she was still the one talking the most. After her usual compliments to herself, she veered into dangerous territory.

"The gardens have greatly changed since I was last at Pemberley. Back when my sister Anne was managing this estate, there were rows of chanticleer trees along the main road and many delightful laurel hedges. I've also noticed that the great black poplar tree has been replaced by a huge cedar tree that gives a ridiculous amount of shadow. This is England, not Spain, you don't need that much shadow. And all these flowers are quite frivolous. Real greatness is more discreet and less flamboyant."

A short silence followed her words. Lady Catherine seemed satisfied with the reaction and smiled with an unmistakable air of superiority at Elizabeth, before turning back to her soup, an unpleasant smile curling her lips.

"Father replaced the dying poplar tree after Mother's death because the poplar tree reminded him too much of her," said Darcy in a cold voice, "They'd spent many afternoons picnicking under that tree. It was very painful for him to see the tree from his bedroom window every day. You've been to Pemberley after the change, perhaps you don't remember."

Lady Catherine pursed her lips and seemed keen to retort, but Georgiana spoke first.

"The laurel hedges being replaced was my idea," said Georgiana, lifting her chin proudly.

"And the flowers?" asked Lady Catherine, determined not be outdone.

This time, Elizabeth spoke up, a wry smile at her lips.

"If you don't remember, which can always happen at a certain age, surely your acute sense of other people's personalities and sharp intelligence would have allowed you to identify whose idea it was."

There was a short pause, during which Lady Catherine raised a finely groomed eyebrow insolently.

"Mr Darcy used to constantly receive letters of a most... _involved_... aunt, suggesting improvements to everything at Pemberley from the kitchen cupboard, to each lath of wood on the bridge over the pond, to the last plant in the gardens. Such delightfully involved aunt expressed a strong wish to see more colourful flowers on the gardens surrounding the property, implying that a lack of them made Pemberley resemble a _'cemetery ravaged by a tempest'_. Unfortunately, we had to lament most heartily that such letters ceased to come, and the pile stopped growing just as it was about to reach the ceiling. You see, even with a full schedule as such noble ladies usually have, she still found time to bestow kind and dare I say welcome suggestions upon her nephew. Imagining my husband to be desirous to please his aunt and thereby retain her favours, most particularly those very precious remarks, without whose advice Pemberley would be extremely polluted, I insisted that we bow to her wishes. Thus, the flowers were planted in time for your arrival. How you do love to tease us, Lady Catherine, pretending you had no recollection of this! All of your teasing aside for the moment, I do hope you are pleased with the result. The flamboyance can surely only add to the grandeur of Pemberley."

During this long speech, Georgiana choked on her drink and made a most unladylike sound, halfway between a snort and a chuckle. Darcy was biting his lip to stop from laughing out loud.

Lady Catherine seemed dumbstruck. It was obvious her mind was whirring. She was probably wondering whether to act insulted or to try to save face. She took the exit route offered by Elizabeth, and tried to retain some semblance of dignity by squeaking "Er – yes, of course, they look very nice. Thank you for... having considered my... light suggestions and having carried them out."

Elizabeth beamed.

Dinner suddenly became much more agreeable.


	4. The One Who Narrowly Avoided Becoming

**4\. The One Who Narrowly Avoided Becoming Mrs Collins**

A few days later, there was slightly larger party at Pemberley. Colonel Fitzwilliam had joined them, and his good humour relieved the tension slightly and eased the minds.

One evening, they were all gathered in the drawing room, after supper. Georgiana was at the piano with Mrs Annesley, who was turning the music sheets. Mr Darcy, Mrs Darcy, Lady Catherine and the Colonel were playing cards.

Lady Catherine seemed quite distracted from the game. She dismissed the Colonel's light-hearted attempts to have her focus on the cards. Clearly, the Colonel's good humour wasn't as pleasing to her as it was to everyone else. Lady Catherine, of course, preferred to be in an environment where the dignity of her rank afforded her a reverent and grave crowd, not one that laughed and conversed merrily. She had been under the false impression that her presence was casting a gloom over the Darcy family, which had been her goal. She had no way of knowing, of course, that Elizabeth's eyes glinted mischievously behind her back, and that Georgiana frequently had to stifle a laugh, while even Darcy couldn't always keep his composure and his lips often twitched involuntarily. Lady Catherine was oblivious to all this, because she only saw what she wanted to see. The truth is usually inconvenient for people of such arrogance and haughtiness.

"So," said Lady Catherine, quite rudely interrupting a delightful bout of banter between Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mrs Darcy, "I see that Georgiana keeps improving on the piano. That is very good."

By saying this, Lady Catherine had made two mistakes. First, she had not looked in Georgiana's direction at all, but had instead chosen to fix her eyes on Elizabeth. This warned Elizabeth that Lady Catherine's praise was just a way to lead the conversation elsewhere, most likely in an attempt to denigrate the new Mrs Darcy, perhaps on her piano skills, perhaps on something else altogether. The second mistake Lady Catherine made was due to her aforementioned blindness to these things that do not fit in her schemes. For, had she seen how her favourite nephew was eyeing his wife and his cousin with jealousy, she might have realised that it was in her interest to leave the banter to go on. It was an incredible display of short-sightedness, especially considering what she about to say and not-so-subtly hint at.

"You know, I've told Mrs Collins, who is your dear friend, that she can come anytime to Mrs Jenkinson's room to practice on the piano forte there."

This phrase sobered Elizabeth and her smile faded slightly. She remembered another good reason to be polite to Lady Catherine: her dear Charlotte's wellbeing sometimes depended on Lady Catherine's humour. She wouldn't want Charlotte to suffer from Lady Catherine's temper and mean words simply because Lady Catherine resented her spirit and quick-wittedness.

"That is very kind of you, Your Ladyship," said Elizabeth. Her tone was genuine, she was glad Lady Catherine had no mentioned the part about Charlotte "not being in anyone's way in that part of the house".

Lady Catherine inclined her head slightly, accepting the praise. She seemed to hesitate, for the first time ever before flinging another barb at Elizabeth. Perhaps she was starting to appreciate Elizabeth, or perhaps her conscience had finally awoken and she realised it would be best not to meddle with her nephew's happiness.

"Well, Mrs Darcy...", Lady Catherine said, surprisingly addressing Elizabeth by her proper name, "To know that that could have been you at that piano! I mean, before Mr Collins proposed to your dear friend Charlotte Lucas, I understand from recent intelligence, that he had asked you to marry him."

There was a short silence.

"Well," replied Elizabeth hesitantly, "How fortunate I am then, to find myself here with another piano forte and with a sister who plays it exceedingly well."

In normal circumstances, Georgiana would have blushed at the praise, but right now she was too worried about the turn the conversation was taking. She had stopped playing the instrument and was conversing in low voices with Mrs Annesley.

Lady Catherine ignored Elizabeth's attempt to redirect the conversation.

"I think you would have done very well as a clergyman's wife. You would have liked my parish I'm sure."

"Rosings and its parish are very nice indeed," Elizabeth said softly. Then, she blushed, realising that praise of Rosings could be easily misconstrued, as well as praise of Pemberley could have been once upon a time. Considering the sick heiress, Mr and Mrs Darcy were as good as next in line to inherit Rosings. Lady Catherine didn't realise where Mrs Darcy's embarrassment was stemming from and continued along the same lines, "You see, I'm surprised that, at the time, you decided to turn Mr Collins down. Surely you must have felt like The One Who Almost Managed To Become Mrs Collins, for a long time afterwards. He was a charming prospect; it was hardly wise to turn him down. He did explain though that your refusal stemmed more from expressing elegance than any real desire to refuse him."

Mr Darcy's face was becoming an interesting shade of red while a vein in Mrs Darcy's neck was pulsing rapidly. Mrs Darcy was infuriated at the reminder of Mr Collins refusing to accept that she would not marry him, and his incessant belief that she was only trying to make herself more desirable.

"I assure you that Mr Collins was mistaken in this belief. I consider myself The One Who Narrowly Avoided Becoming Mrs Collins."

"Are you implying that Mr Collins, your cousin, is not a fine, respectable man deserving of the respect of a woman of your status?"

Mr Darcy rose from his seat but his wife pulled him back down by the arm, so he sat again, his fists clenched so tightly the knuckles turned white. He was so furious at his aunt that he genuinely thought he could throw her out of Pemberley at nighttime, where Lady Catherine would have little choice but to sleep in the carriage since some parts of the road further on were highly impracticable for carriages when there was no daylight.

"I'm only saying that my friend is happy as Mrs Collins, so surely we must rejoice that everyone finds themselves happy in their marriage."

Lady Catherine seemed a bit unsure as to what to retort. She hadn't been in a happy marriage; she'd been in a boring marriage. And what Lady Catherine didn't know was that Charlotte Collins was in both, for she was happy to be in a boring marriage that left her plenty of time for herself.

"I could never have foreseen you as my niece," continued Lady Catherine after a tense silence, "And even if I had, I knew my nephew, at least one of them, would have too much sense to propose." She eyed Colonel Fitzwilliam as she said this, which either indicated that surprisingly, she had picked up on outside information that didn't concern her, namely that the Colonel and Elizabeth were good friends, or that someone had pointed it out to her. Perhaps a good observer like Mrs Jenkinson, perhaps not.

"That's enough!" roared Mr Darcy, finally standing up for good, "What are you implying?!"

He was seething with anger. His aunt was extremely surprised. She'd never seen her nephew lose his cool demeanour, and she was feeling a bit uneasy and scared about it. Georgiana seemed terrified.

"Honey, would you please sit down?" Elizabeth whispered under her breath. Mr Darcy took in a deep breath and looked at Elizabeth. She gave him a reassuring nod, "I can handle this," she murmured. He nodded his understanding but whispered back, "I can't stand this. Just give me a minute." And he went to stand by the window, with his back to them. He was, however, listening intently to the conversation going on behind him.

"What's all this conspiratorial whispering?" Lady Catherine was genuinely surprised, "Those who are not ashamed have no reason to hide."

"I'd say it's those who never hide their least respectable feelings who should be ashamed," retorted Georgiana.

"Lady Catherine," Elizabeth burst in before Lady Catherine could start a feud with her niece, "I must clarify a few things since you seem to be under a misapprehension. I have never held any romantic feelings for either Mr Collins or Colonel Fitzwilliam, as you so kindly implied earlier."

At this, Mr Darcy turned around. He brightened up slightly.

"What about Mr Wickham?"

Elizabeth was highly surprised that Lady Catherine knew about her old admirer.

"I admit that I was mistaken about his respectability and his manners, as I was about another gentleman. I never had any strong attachment towards him, nothing that could have induced me into matrimony. He's now a brother and even that relationship is a little too close for my liking. Be assured, as much as you despise me for it, that I only have eyes for my husband."

Mr Darcy was beaming.

Later that same evening, in the privacy of their bedchambers, Mr Darcy pulled Mrs Darcy into his arms.

"You were right, dearest," Mr Darcy whispered, "Lady Catherine is indeed of infinite use. She has clarified any lingering doubts I may have had. I have no reason to be jealous of your friendship with my cousin."

"Fitzwilliam!" Elizabeth tried to scold him but she couldn't help laughing slightly, "You could have just asked me that and I would have told you! I can't believe you ever thought I entertained romantic feelings for your cousin."

"I'm sorry," apologised her husband, "But you know how difficult it is for me to admit to these weaknesses... so Lady Catherine has just saved me a lot of heartache and she has saved the colonel from a broken nose."

Elizabeth tried to keep her face stern as she replied, "I cannot tell if you are only saying this for your amusement or not, but really William!"

"I know you've forgiven me already, because you've stopped your 'serious talk' attitude."

" _'Serious talk' attitude_?" Elizabeth was flabbergasted

"You've stopped calling me 'Fitzwilliam'. How highly improper, Mrs Darcy."

His eyes were twinkling. She shut him up with a kiss.

"I love you, _Will_."

"I love you, Lizzie."


	5. The End

The rest of the week passed calmly, and then it was time for Lady Catherine to return to Rosings. While her luggage was being brought to her carriage, she said her goodbyes to the Darcys. The Colonel had already left a few days earlier.

While she instructed Georgiana to keep practicing the piano with a stern tone of voice, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth stood further away. Even though the week had passed by without any further incidents, Elizabeth made herself discreet and kept her distance. She wasn't afraid of Lady Catherine but the predictability of the arguments really put a damper on the fun.

Lady Catherine then moved on to Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. After the usual criticisms of the way things were run at Pemberley, she shocked them all by expressing gratitude.

"Thank you for your hospitality. My dear nephew, like your sister, you ought to write more often. And perhaps you'll all find the time to come visit me at Rosings."

Elizabeth's eyebrows rose in astonishment.

"Thank you, Aunt Catherine," replied Mr. Darcy.

There was a short silence. Understanding that Mr. and Mrs. Darcy wouldn't budge from each other's side unless instructed, Lady Catherine asked, "May I ask for a few minutes of private talk with Mrs. Darcy?"

Mr. Darcy hesitated, but Mrs. Darcy readily agreed, and the two women walked a bit further away, while Mr. Darcy and Georgiana conversed. However, Mr. Darcy was watching out of the corner of his eye.

Elizabeth was slightly wary, but she was also quite curious. Lady Catherine didn't seem angry – in fact, she seemed at a loss for words, which was quite extraordinary for her.

"Mrs. Darcy... I... I need to tell you... No, what I meant is..."

Elizabeth listened without interrupting while Lady Catherine struggled to get the words out.

"I'd like to... apologise for our previous... disagreements."

Elizabeth was beyond shocked. Sure, Lady Catherine had understated the abominable rudeness she had demonstrated towards her by calling it mere "disagreements", but she had apologised!

"I'm glad we've seemed to reach a truce," replied Elizabeth, who hoped to elegantly accept the apology without returning it.

"Yes," replied Lady Catherine, "Indeed, we have reached a truce. I hope we shall remain on cordial terms."

"I daresay we will."

At this, Lady Catherine smiled – a crooked half-smile but a smile nonetheless. Not a smirk, a genuine smile.

The world didn't make sense anymore. Indeed, when Mr. Darcy told Colonel Fitzwilliam about this, the colonel struggled to comprehend it.

 **Epilogue**

About three months later, Lady Catherine received a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Darcy announcing Mrs. Darcy's pregnancy. The letter also had a tongue-in-cheek joke about a recently fully redecorated room. Lady Catherine seemed to take it well, for she bestowed many gifts upon her grandnephew.


End file.
